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Most afternoons, I've got Shep on in the car as I drive home. I respect someone who can call bullsh*t on his own 'team' so to speak. That's also one of the things that I admired about John McCain. When he pulled that mic away from that old woman and said, "No ma'am." I wanted to vote for that guy--putting integrity and truth above the "Hussein Obama" hate point.

When I play devil's advocate here, I try to do it without stepping on too many toes. But it's sometimes hard. I've got a better, idea of where different people are coming from and I do keep that in mind when responding. (My apologies to Coulter fans for my rant this past weekend. I feel the same way about Jenene Garafalo if that helps.)

I think the GOP on the whole has to decide who they want to represent them--right of center moderates, fiscal conservatives, or the religious base--OR a healthy mix of all of the above. I'm not sure what the word healthy means there--perhaps focusing on common ground would be a start. I don't have anything in common with those coming from a place of fear or bigotry, so it is probably impossible to find common ground there, but I know the GOP doesn't want to be represented as that.

If I have any one goal for this country, it would be to move toward a classic liberalism or fiscal conservative type of government, stressing individual freedom, free markets, and limited government. Leave the sex and morality to the states and local communities.

I live in California, but more and more my wife and I are seeing it as a nice place to visit. But, anyone who has a family knows that picking up and moving isn't something you do without a lot of thought and planning.

Anyway, I like Shep. I relate with Shep's lament.:o:(

I don't really like Shep from what I've seen of him, but I don't watch him (or FOX) very much, since I don't have cable. So let me focus on your other point, about the country. I can agree about the "classic liberalism or fiscal conservative type of government, stressing individual freedom, free markets, and limited government." However, leaving the social issues to the states will not do much to allay anger over them. Look at the outrage over Prop 8, even in other states. It may give some people the chance to move to a state more to their beliefs, but 1) it's hard to sell a house, buy another, and move, and 2) it can all change with the next election. If some folks moved to or from CA thinking "Oh it's now a gay marriage state", then what happens a few months later when it isn't anymore?

As for composition, I'd say all of the above... we should have a big tent approach, but like Reagan, not the Dems. By that I mean, convince others that the Reps can and should be trusted on the important matters of security, the economy, etc, and that if you agree with at least some of the platform (the parts that matter to you), join us and we'll just agree to disagree on the rest. The Reps should not be promising the sun and the moon and the stars to every group out there in order to get their vote, nor pretend to be Democrat-lite.

The problem in the next four years will be not just that the president of the United States serially does not tell the truth. Instead, the real crisis in our brave new relativist world will be that those who demonstrate that he is untruthful will themselves be accused of lying. - Victor Davis Hanson

And Hannity...well, some of my new friends are fans so I will just say, he's very passionate about his views.;):)

I'm watching O'Reilly as I type... Is he a moonbat too??

O'Reilly and Beck are showmen, that's why they are so entertaining. With Beck, it's kind of fun to try to figure out how much is his act and how much is how crazy he really is.

O'Reilly, on the other hand, is pure act. I like him best when he has someone on his show that everyone agrees is a scumbag, and he tears the guy apart. That's fun. It's not so much fun when they get some internet blogger guy to go head-to-head with him. That's not good sportsmanship.

As for composition, I'd say all of the above... we should have a big tent approach, but like Reagan, not the Dems. By that I mean, convince others that the Reps can and should be trusted on the important matters of security, the economy, etc, and that if you agree with at least some of the platform (the parts that matter to you), join us and we'll just agree to disagree on the rest. The Reps should not be promising the sun and the moon and the stars to every group out there in order to get their vote, nor pretend to be Democrat-lite.

Reagan opened a big tent not by jogging left - but by inspiring people to come right.

O'Reilly and Beck are showmen, that's why they are so entertaining. With Beck, it's kind of fun to try to figure out how much is his act and how much is how crazy he really is.

O'Reilly, on the other hand, is pure act. I like him best when he has someone on his show that everyone agrees is a scumbag, and he tears the guy apart. That's fun. It's not so much fun when they get some internet blogger guy to go head-to-head with him. That's not good sportsmanship.

I think Beck is just genuine. Not much of an act going on there. I love him.

Shep cracks me up for different reasons. When you get him and Geraldo "reporting" on anything together it's a nonstop laugh riot.